Sheffield masters student wins legal case after being thrown off course for anti-gay views

A former masters student has won an appeal at the High Court after the University of Sheffield expelled him for calling same-sex marriage sinful.

Felix Ngole, 39, who had been studying for a postgraduate degree in Social Work, expressed controversial views on gay marriage on Facebook.

He shared a post which said “I stand with Kim Davis”, the American clerk who was jailed after she refused to marry same sex couples.

In September 2015, he also commented on a link quoting a Leviticus Bible verse, declaring homosexuality was an “abomination”.

A university committee later decided that Ngole had “transgressed boundaries which are not deemed appropriate for someone entering the social work profession” and was ordered to hand his U-Card in.

He has now been granted the right to mount a judicial review against Sheffield University’s decision, with the Deputy High Court Judge arguing that the expulsion was disproportionate.

However, lawyers representing the university have argued that the decision was fair, highlighting Ngole’s “professionally qualifying degree” to become a social worker and the potential to “undermine the trust and confidence of lesbian, gay and bisexual clients”.

Speaking after being expelled, Ngole said: “My beliefs about marriage and sexual ethics reflect mainstream, biblical understanding, shared by millions around the world.

“Simply expressing that understanding, in a personal capacity, on my Facebook page, cannot be allowed to become a bar to serving and helping others in a professional capacity as a social worker.”

The court case could set a precedent on the reasoning to ban a person from working or studying for views such as Ngole’s.